MLB.TV - Quality Baseball Direct To Your Computer

Sunday, April 19 2009 - Blog

I have been a subscriber to the MLB.TV Premium service for a number of years (I think this year will be my fourth season), and I have been consistently impressed with their service. As a subscriber, I have access to every single game played throughout both the regular and post seasons, both live-as-they-are-played and as archive games after the fact. I can also watch 30 minutes "condensed" games that include just the scoring plays without having to watch the full 3+ hours. This year, I can even choose "home" versus "away" coverage of any given game. As a fan of Don and Jerry, I like to watch the Red Sox on NESN when I can…

One things that really stands out this year though is the quality of the streaming video. It has taken quite a leap forward in my opinion. Using a browser plugin called "NexDef", they are now streaming super-high quality video. While I was watching the Red Sox beat the Orioles this morning, I thought I'd take a snapshot of the difference between the "old" service and the "new" service – you can really see the difference in the crispness of the text.

The NexDef plugin also includes adaptive streaming, so that it can deal with temporary bandwidth issues gracefully. It does seem to eat a little processor when running full screen, but I suppose that is expected given the video quality.

Anyway, if you're a baseball fan and you don't live in the USA, get yourself a subscription to MLB.TV; you won't regret it.

Tagged as: baseball, personal-thoughts

#1 jhn on Tuesday, April 21 2009 at 5:08 AM

Give me a break.MLB.tv is a nightmare.The NexDef plugin eats up processor and memory even when you're not watching any video:it's a hacky, junky solution.Also, condensed games haven't been put up yet this year.What are they paying you.

#2 Paul Hammond on Tuesday, April 21 2009 at 6:59 AM

Thanks for the comment jhn.I genuinely like the service, and MLB.tv aren't paying me anything(!)I realise the condensed games aren't up yet, but they will be there for most of the season, which is fine by me.I'll just watch full games until that happens.Although honestly, I *am* confused why they can't have them up on day 1; they have the whole off-season to prepare for it.It was the same last season for a few weeks.I agree the plugin isn't perfect from a technology perspective, but you can't deny the quality of the video (which was my point).I just kill the process between games and all is well...As a person in the UK who would otherwise not be able to watch any baseball, the solution works really well for me.When compared to the NBA equivalent that is available for international customers, MLB.tv blows it out of the water!

#3 Brian on Monday, June 08 2009 at 7:36 PM

Hey Paul. Just wondering how you are currently liking the "condensed games." It appears that MLB.TV shortened these games to make them available on the iPhone, but paying (non-iphone) customers don't seem to be too happy with it (including me). It is currently the most discussed thread on the MLB.TV support forums. Your thoughts?

#4 Paul Hammond on Monday, June 08 2009 at 9:34 PM

Hey Brian - good question!I hadn't really paid attention to the length as it has fluctuated since the start of the season.Now you mention it, the last few games have hovered around the 7 or 8 minute mark...I assumed that was because there was as many good plays to watch.A few seasons ago the average length of a condensed game was only 10 or 12 minutes.Last season, it often headed towards the 30 minute mark.Somewhere in the 20-30 minute range would suit me best as it would give me the main plays, but also allow me to see at least some of the nuances of the game.What are the responses from MLB.tv folks on the forums?I understand supporting their iPhone Application (as they charge for that too), but not at the expense of a Premium subscriber who shelled out $119 for the season!

#5 Brian on Monday, June 08 2009 at 9:53 PM

As of this instant, there are 152 replies on the thread for MLB.TV support. None of these replies are in favor of the change. The vast majority of the replies are furious. There is an "official" user by the name of mlbsupport who supposedly represents MLB.TV on the forums. They have replied to this thread infrequently, appears to have no clue what is going on, and have not replied to irate customers on this topic for 5 days now.In the time since their last post in this thread over 70 very angry customers have posted replies asking for a change back to the old format or a reasonable explanation why the service has changed with no response.During this time I have cancelled my subscription and received a refund from MLB.TV.

#6 Jonas on Tuesday, June 09 2009 at 12:13 PM

I too think that MLB.TV is, in principle at least, a great thing if you live outside the US. What they did to the Condensed Games is a disgrace, though. Completely changing the concept of the Condensed Games from showing every payoff pitch to assembling a collection of highlights from which it is difficult to understand the overall flow of the game. I think you cannot change the product so substantially while people have subscribed to it.Meanwhile someone has set up an online poll, which I found a good idea to get an impression of how subscribers view the modification in service: http://poll.fm/107f3Best, Jonas.

#7 Paul Hammond on Tuesday, June 09 2009 at 1:11 PM

Brian - good information about the lack of response from Support on the Forums.To be honest, I've used their support very rarely, so I have no real opinion on how effective it is.Have you tried calling their support line directly?Unfortunately, I cannot unsubscribe unless I want to lose the full live and archived games and audio too.In the UK, so I have pretty much no other options for that...Jonas - thanks for the link to the poll - I've voted.Let's hope someone at MLB.tv listens...

#8 Free Microsoft Points Codes on Monday, June 21 2010 at 9:01 AM

A great service indeed!

#9 Greg Mockry on Thursday, November 25 2010 at 5:08 PM

I have been a subscriber to mlb.com since it's inception in 2002. My favorite item they offer is Condensed games, I live in New York now but My favorite team is the L.A. Dodgers. I can pull up there game the following morning and with coffee in hand I can watch the whole game in 20 minutes before I go to work. I do not understand why MLB keeps changing the pure form of Condensed games showing the last pitch to each batter. It only takes 15-20 minutes to see all the batters. MLB has changed there format back and forth thru the years, taking out certain batters to make it only 10-12 minutes long back to showing the last pitch to every batter, 15-20 minutes. Why mess with a pure form of showing each batter. This is the First Change in Broadcasting a Baseball Game in over 75 years, it's "Revolutionary". MLB also has gone from charging ($4.95 per season in 2002) to having it in it's paid package $19.95 per month up to $22.95 this year, to offering it Free this year. MLB should get it straight that we, the paying public wants to see the final pitch to every batter with Condensed Games, nothing else. Listen to your paying public MLB and do it right.

Greg

New York